Senate President Bill Cadman, second from left in the back row, and members of the Denver Metro Young Republicans pose after the Colorado Republican Party’s Centennial Dinner Friday night at the Inverness Hotel. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Thatcher Gardner.

It’s hard to figure out who got more laughs at the Colorado Republican Party’s Centennial Dinner Friday night: Senate President Bill Cadman or 3-year-old Thatcher Gardner, son of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner.

Cadman reminded his fellow Republicans that in previous years the topic at the dinners has been “how successful we’re going to be.”

Three country boys, state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Yuma and state Sen. Larry Crowder of Alamosa, share a laugh at a GOP reception Friday night before the party’s Centennial Dinner. Gardner was the keynote speaker. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg got a good laugh when he showed up for a Colorado Republican Party reception and dinner Friday night.

His legislative aide decided to have some fun and ordered the northeastern Coloradan farmer and rancher a vegetarian dinner.

Cory Gardner, left, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, joins supporters in waving placards on the corner of a major intersection in south Denver early Election Day. Gardner defeated the Democratic incumbent , U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, (AP/David Zalubowski)

Colorado’s favorite Republican, Cory Gardner, will be the special guest at the state GOP’s annual Centennial Dinner on March 13.

The Yuma Republican gave up safe congressional seat in 2014 to take on Democrat Mark Udall, who was seeking a second-term in the U.S. Senate. Gardner won by 1.95 percentage points, becoming the first Coloradan in 36 years to knock off an incumbent U.S. senator.

Colorado House Minority Leader BrianDelGrosso of Loveland, holds his 21-month-old son Zackary and sits with his wife, Amber, during the opening session of the 2015 Colorado legislature. (Brennan Linsley, The Associated Press)

On the legislature’s opening day Wednesday, House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso of Loveland laid out the Republicans
agenda in the chamber for the 120-day session.

Republicans have titled their plan “Vision for a Prosperous Colorado,” and DelGrosso urged the members of lower chamber to take action on rural economic development, jobs, small businesses, transportation and the value of the state’s natural resources.

Republicans Alex Siciliano, left, and Matt Connelly, right, the spokesmen for U.S. Senate hopeful Cory Gardner, point to the sign outside the campaign headquarters. It belonged to the previous tenant, and Team Gardner decided to keep it up. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Rachel Maddow’s producer had a question: “Does Cory Gardner even have a campaign headquarters?”

He did, but Colorado Democrats were confounded that they had no idea where it was located, which is why I frequently got asked, “Is there a headquarters?” and “Have you been there?” Yes and yes.

Here’s the scoop: Gardner’s campaign was located across the hall from the Colorado Republican Party headquarters in the Denver Tech Center, making it easy for operatives in both groups to run back and forth. The only sign outside Gardner’s office was the one left by the previous tenant, which read, “Building Maintenance Company.” The campaign decided to keep it.

“We had people coming in and telling us their air conditioning wasn’t working,” Gardner’s campaign spokesman, Alex Siciliano, recalled, with a laugh.

Wadhams has been working in South Dakota for the past year but for one candidate, former Gov. Mike Rounds, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Rounds recently beat four GOP rivals — two with Tea Party ties — to win the primary with 59 percent of the vote.

Wadhams said this could be a historic election for South Dakota if Republicans win the congressional and Senate race, as well as the governor’s race. It would mark the first time in more than 50 years that the Democrats were shut out of those top posts.

U.S. Sen, Mark Udall is likely to vote this week on the Keystone pipeline project. (The Denver Post)

Colorado Republicans are crowing about their new Tumblr blog, which today highlights “5 things to know about Mark Udall’s upcoming vote against the Keystone Pipeline.”

Sen. Udall is getting hammered by Republicans for refusing to taking what he sees as merely a symbolic or political vote on the project, preferring to wait until a State Department review is complete.

Udall, a Democrat, faces Republican Congressman Cory Gardner in a race where energy — and Keystone — is expected to be a huge issue. Gardner supports the project and so do the majority of Coloradans, the state GOP says.

Keystone is back in the news with the announcement last week that the chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee wants to have a vote this week on the Keystone XL pipeline. Udall intends to vote “no,” a position that has earned him plenty of grief.

The Colorado Republican Party has launched its “What’s Your Story” campaign to better explain what the GOP stands for and why “I vote Republican.”

At its state assembly in Boulder on Saturday, the GOP released videos of three Coloradans explaining why they vote Republican: The Voice contestant and minister Biff Gore; snowboarder and small business owner Braden Wahr; and Blanca Pyle, who tells her story of how she immigrated to the United States and became a physician assistant.

Assembly attendees were encouraged to take pictures and post status updates on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #IVoteRepublican, which then were displayed on the screen at the Coors Event Center. Organizers also set up photo and video booths outside the assembly hall where delegates and guests could snap a picture and talk about why they are voting Republican this year. By the end of the day, more than 1.8 million impressions were made.

“We have to do a better job of explaining what the Republican Party stands for; that’s why we started this campaign,” Colorado Republican Committee Chairman Ryan Call said. “It’s clear that this campaign is already encouraging Coloradans from all walks of life to explain that to their friends, family and coworkers.”

The chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party delivered what seemed to be a stinging rebuke as he welcomed Republican efforts to bring to the RNC to the state, but his one-liner was nothing compared to the verbal beating by Nevada Democrats.

Chairman Rick Palacio said he supported efforts by the Colorado GOP to host the 2016 Republican National Convention, and pointed to the success of the DNC in Denver in 2008.

“However, I would caution the GOP; as long as their party demonizes immigrants, ostracizes women, and pushes an outdated and extreme agenda, nothing, let alone a convention, will help them win over the independent-minded voters of our great state,” Palacio said, in a news release.

Likewise, Nevada Democrats back efforts by state Republicans to host the RNC in Las Vegas that year, according to a November memo to RNC chairman Reince Priebus.

“The reason is simple,” they said. “Putting the national spotlight on Nevada Republicans for a week-long national convention will do more to damage the Republican Party’s brand than anything Democrats could possibly do.”

That was just a warm up of a fascinating attack on Nevada Republicans and some of the headlines they produced in 2012. Read on:

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, bottom left, joined with U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, Gov. John Hickenlooper, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and others for his first Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Denver. (Provided by Coffman) The woman in the white hat is Mary Shannon-Banister, who was with Aurora community relations, while to her lower right is the Rev. James Peters.

This year’s MLK parade featured an unprecedented number of Republicans, including Congressman Mike Coffman and state Sen. Greg Brophy, as the Colorado Republican Party continues its outreach to minorities.

Party chairman Ryan Call said the GOP worked with American Conservatives of Color and had a registration booth at Civic Center Park and participated in a honk-and-wave.

“We’re building on what we did last year,” he said. “We have quite a number of Republicans that are marching in support of Martin Luther King day and demonstrating the commitment the Republican Party has for engagement within our community.”

Coffman said he participated in Juneteenth when he was state treasurer and has always attended MLK events in Aurora, where he lives, but this is his first MLK parade.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.